Link (SSBM)

Link in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Link
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	E (16)

Announced at E3 2001, Link (リンク, Rinku) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Link is ranked 16th in the tier list, having been buffed between SSB and Melee. His recovery has been significantly improved, along with having better air speed and faster attacks (though they are slightly weaker), he is a capable edge guarder equipped with a powerful and effective semi-spike in the grounded Spin Attack (NTSC-only), and is a overall better character than he was in SSB. However, he still has a mediocre air game and due to his heavy weight, fast falling speed, and his somewhat large size, he is vulnerable to chain throws and combos, which is a major problem in competitive play. This results in Link being considered E tier and having below average matchups.

Attributes

Link has poor dash speed (although his air speed is quite fast), but he makes up for this with great range for most attacks and a variety of projectiles. He also has powerful smashes and aerial attacks, but his high lag attacks and moderate startup times counterbalance this. Link's grab range is large (due to being a tether grab) and can be used as a Wall-grapple. However, it leaves Link vulnerable if it misses, and it can't grab airborne opponents (which minimizes chaingrabing opportunities). Link's neutral aerial is powerful and fast when SHFFL'd. On the downside, his wavedash is short and slow. His Hylian Shield can act on its own and defend against projectiles when standing stationary, although it will not block projectiles above or below his Hylian shield. Link's up special move (spin attack) is a quick finisher and edge-guarding tool. Link is vulnerable to chain grabs and combos due to his fairly heavy weight, fast falling speed, and comparatively large size.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack- His combo from SSB, three quick swipes followed by a sudden flurry of even faster sword stabs. First hit does 4-5%, second 2-3%, then 6%, followed by 1% per strike.
• Dash attack- Brings sword down in front of him. Somewhat fast. At higher damages it'll knock a grounded foe into the air, often leading into an aerial follow up, though it doesn't have much KO power. 12% damage
• Down tilt- Swipes down in front of him. As with his dash attack, this often directly leads into an aerial combo, though the move itself is pretty predictable. This move can also strongly meteor smash a ledge-grabbing foe when Link's sword (except for the outermost hitbox) makes contact with the hanging foe, although it is very hard to manage. 11% damage.
• Forward tilt- raises sword and brings it down in front of him. Has an upwards hitbox, which can substitute for other anti-air moves in a few cases, and has above-average knockback. 13-15% damage.
• Up tilt- A quick arced slash above him. Very useful for many reasons; it sets up for aerial combos, pretty fast, high knockback, overall good startup and ending lag. 9% damage

Smashes

• Up smash- Slashes in an arch very similar to his up tilt three consecutive times. This attack was taken from SSB, but with changes to the hitbox. All hits now have a noticeable arch above him with good range, instead of just the first hit being an arch and two smaller stabs upwards as in SSB. Good for racking up damage and setting up for air combos due to below average knockback for an up smash. Up to three separate hits, uncharged inflicts 15%. Fully charged will do 20%.
• Forward smash- Swings sword once in front for good knockback by itself, and if "A" is pressed again, does an even stronger one after. It is impossible that the second hit will land at damages above 30% or so due to knockback growth of the first hit. The first hit is still strong, though, not as much as the second one. Link players should practice timing the move so they purposely miss the first strike and end up hitting the foe with the stronger second strike. 7-32% uncharged, 10-37% fully.
• Down smash- Swings sword on both sides of him on the ground. First hit comes out fast, though second hit has some lag. This move has decent range, and since the hitbox is on the floor, it makes this move good for spacing, and has some KO power. It can be unreliable however. 13-16% front, 11-14% back uncharged; 17-21% front, 15-19% back fully charged.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Climbs up and stabs in front of him. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack- slowly gets up and quickly thrusts his sword. Only the sword has a hitbox; foes close to the end of ledge Link was on can avoid the attack completely. 8% damage.
• Floor attack- Quickly gets up and slashes on both sides. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- A generic sex kick. 11% max, 5% minimum
• Back aerial- Two short-ranged kicks to his back. Second hit can sometimes be hard to land. This move, unlike most back aerials, isn't always considered Link's best viable choice for edgeguarding due to awkward hitboxes and duration. First hit 7%, next 6%.
• Forward aerial- Swings twice in front of him. The first hit is usually hard to follow into the second hit. This is somewhat like his f-smash, where the second hit has more power than the first, so the first hit is usually purposely missed in favor for the second. Has some ending lag, should be very carefully used due to Link's bad recovery. 13% for the first, 7% on the second.
• Down aerial- His famous aerial from Zelda II where he takes his sword and keeps it aimed downward, falling fast while doing so. This move is a move of extremes: huge knockback, huge ending lag, huge priority, and huge hitbox. It is possible to hit more than once with this move on the same foe. If the move's still in action when Link lands, he'll have to pull it out from the ground, with ending lag, and it is recommend to L-cancel it in such cases. It is one of his primary KO moves, dealing 22% at outset.
• Up aerial- Stabs sword above him. Good for juggling or Star KO-ing at higher damages ~120%. Has some sex kick properties. 16% damage, 12% afterwards.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel- Bashes foe in the head with his sword hand (left fist). 2-3% damage.
• Forward throw- Kicks foe a short distance in front of him. Pretty weak knockback. One apparent kick, but two mysterious hitboxes. 4% first hitbox, 3% second
• Up throw- Brings foe up and slashes above. Two mysterious hitboxes, 3% first, 2% second
• Down throw- Brings foe down and tackles. Leaves foes wide open for a combo, such as a forward Tilt, up tilt, or even a quick smash attack. Two hits, first does 2%, then 4%
• Back throw- Brings foe behind and kicks in a similar fashion to his forward throw. 2% then 3%

Special moves

Link's special moves

Neutral special	Boomerang	Bow	Hero's Bow		Bow and Arrows
Side special	—	Boomerang	Gale Boomerang		Boomerang
Up special	Spin Attack
Down special	Bomb				Remote Bomb

Taunt

Link puts his right hand on his hip and raises his left hand through his bang.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Changes from SSB to Melee

Link has been significantly buffed from SSB to Melee. Below are the list of changes.

• New neutral special (Bow). Boomerang is now Link's side special.
• Different Spin Attack animation (both on air, and on ground).
• Can use Hookshot for a wall-grapple.
• Also, the Hookshot's chain will launch forward and just drop when it reaches its maximum length, instead of keeping horizontal.
• Hookshot is shorter and can no longer grab airborne opponents. Although, it has less ending lag than in SSB.
• Spin Attack is a better recovery.
• Recovery is overall significantly better, thanks to hookshot wall grapple and bombs.
• Forward smash has two hits, instead of just one.
• Faster air speed.
• New taunt.
• New helpless state.
• Back and forward throws are more than eight times weaker, to the point where they usually won't even KO at 300% damage.
• New dash attack.
• Attacks are a bit weaker, but also a bit faster.
• A weak throw of the bomb now causes explosion.
• New dashing animation.
• Boomerang is weaker and doesn't travel as far.
• Spin Attack can no longer deflect projectiles.
• Down aerial is completely changed. It no longer does 16% on the first and second hits, dealing a total of 32%, but instead, it does up to 19% on the first hit and 6% on the second hit, dealing a total of 25%. Also, it deals knockback now.

PAL differences

• Up special move (Spin Attack) can no longer semi-spike
• Link can no longer perform the Boomerang superjump or the chain dance

Combos

• A good combo to use in one on one battles is to use the boomerang, to momentarily disable the character of any attacks (they will pop into the air), use this momentary cease fire to use a spin attack and send them flying away. The player must be quick or else chances are they will attack.
• Another great combo is to grab them opponent, throw them up/down, depending on what character and damage the opponent have, if its a fastfaller then use up throw, if they have high damage use the down throw, then instantly use the up special move. On high damage this is lethal. Follow the up special with a Boomerang and charge in for the kill (a fair or another up special usually does the trick.)
• Up throw, up aerial, then Spin Attack. If the enemy still lives, up smash.
• Up special throw the bomb into the air, grapple the opponent and throw them upwards. If done quickly enough, the opponent will be hurled into the bomb and fly away from the player, doing no harm to them (however if too much time is wasted, the bomb will bounce off the opponent and land on the player).
• Down tilt, jump, forward or neutral aerial

In single-player modes

In Adventure Mode

Link can be fought in the Underground Maze where if the player comes across the Master Sword, they will be taken to a battle with a different colored Link until they come across the Triforce. It is possible to complete the stage without fighting Link at all.

In Event Matches

Link is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 3: Bomb-fest: This match pits the player's character against the team of Link and Samus with one stock each on the Princess Peach's Castle stage. Link and Samus only use their bomb special moves, but all the bomb (or likewise) items will appear on the stage.
• Event 18: Link's Adventure: The player uses Link as they face Dark Link on the Hyrule Temple stage. Both have 2 stock each (Dark Link is just a completely blacked out form of Link, not the black character costume).
• Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Link is the second opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Great Bay stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Link has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life they have: Samus, Zelda, Captain Falcon, and Fox.
• Event 29: Triforce Gathering: The player plays as Link with Zelda as their partner. They face Ganondorf on the Hyrule Temple stage.
• Event 34: Seven Years: As Young Link, the player fights Link with 3 stock each on the Great Bay stage.
• Event 41: En Garde!: As Marth, the player faces Link in a 2 stock match on the Hyrule Temple stage.

Trophies (3)

In addition to the normal trophy about Link as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star Modes respectively with Link on any difficulty:

Link (Classic Mode, Trophy #7)
Even in his youth, Link was already becoming the warrior who would carry the destiny of Hyrule (and many other lands) on his shoulders. His epic struggles against the forces of darkness are written in legend, and he is bound to the Princess Zelda and the archfiend Ganondorf by the awesome power of the Triforce.

Link (Smash Red, Adventure Mode, Trophy #8)
Burdened with a shield, a heavy sword, and plenty of equipment, Link is not a very mobile character. Nevertheless, he's skilled with the blade, and his varied supply of missile weapons makes him a powerful fighter. To master Link, you must control the pace by balancing your long-range attacks with head-to-head swordplay.

• B: Bow
• Smash B: Boomerang

Link (Smash Blue, All-Star Mode, Trophy #9)
Link's Bow, Boomerang, and Bombs all take time to wield, so you may want to try drawing them in midair to prevent your foes from attacking you while you're vulnerable. The Spin Attack can score consecutive midair hits, and the final slash is very powerful. Link's Bombs are his trump card, but he can't pull one out if he's carrying another item.

• Up & B: Spin Attack
• Down & B: Bomb

Costume gallery

File:Alt-link2.jpg

Link's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• Link and his clone, Young Link, both use the same model for the Hookshot. This makes Young Link's look rather large compared to Link's.
• While in trophy #7, Link's shield is wooden, in trophy #8, it's solid metal.

External links

• Home Run Contest World Record
• Target Test World Record